Poke Guardians: Warrior Saint Chapter 2
by JTPD413
Summary: Ash finally wakes up after being in a coma for three days. He and May officially meet, although they both feel like they've seen each other before, and Ash gets the feeling that she's hiding something. After being questioned by May's friends, he decides to join them and help them fight. His training will be covered in the next chapter.


**Chapter 2**

The past three days had gone by so quickly that to May, they felt like a blur. Not only did she and Brock have to struggle to keep their comatose patient alive, she and the rest of the team been conducting recon to make sure that that same patient didn't have any Imperial friends that would come looking for him. On top of that, she had had to make several trips to three different pharmacies and a clothing store for this mysterious person. However, after the third day, everyone was sure that the Empire wouldn't come kicking down their front door, so the worry and anxiety subsided somewhat.

As May stared at the unconscious raven-haired boy lying on a makeshift hospital bed, an IV needle in his left arm, his torso, arms and legs covered in bandages, she drifted off like she sometimes did when she had spare time. She drifted off into a different life, an ordinary, peaceful life, a life where the Empire didn't exist. For the first time, May wondered where this boy would fit into it; by any standard, he was definitely cute enough. Maybe the two of them would've become good friends, maybe even a couple, and they would've been able to worry about the ordinary teenage things that May had taken for granted. Unfortunately, the cold, harsh reality they lived in didn't work that way, especially after what_ he_ did to her; May now had to worry about what the boy might do to her when he woke up. On top of that, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had met him somewhere before...

May, upon hearing the doorknob turn and seeing Brock step into the room with his clipboard in hand, was brought back into that reality. "How is he?" he asked absentmindedly, staring at his clipboard in bewilderment.

"He's the same as he was last night," May replied, rubbing her eyes from lack of sleep, "I'm still trying figure out how he could've survived receiving injuries like that; he looked like he got shoved through a shredder."

"You and me both," Brock agreed looking worried, "By all medical standards, he should've died days ago. If the enormous shock from receiving any one of or all those wounds didn't kill him, then he should've died from the massive blood loss. On top of that, we don't even know how long he was wandering out there, 'cause those wounds weren't fresh, even when you found him. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I've never seen anyone with the willpower to just refuse to die."

"But that's a good thing, right?" May asked, feeling somewhat confused, "Aside from the fact that he's still unconscious, of course."

"Oh no, of course not," Brock replied, handing her the clipboard like she could make heads or tails of it, "That's not what's bothering me; you see his brainwave patterns? They don't read like someone who's in a coma; the strange thing is, I see these patterns all the time."

"Now May was definitely confused. "Where?"

"On someone who's awake," Brock said simply, stopping halfway out the door, "Let me know when he wakes up, will you?" With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

As May slumped into the chair against the wall from exhaustion, only two thoughts were running through her mind as she drifted off to sleep: One, what would happen when the boy woke up? Two, what was happening inside his head?

_The scene presented to Ash's eyes was both highly detailed, yet vague and unclear. At first he thought it was only a dream, then he soon realized his error; this was too vivid, too real to be a just a dream. Could this be some sort of vision, and if so, why was he having it?_

_The scene took place in a clearing surrounded by trees, the moon and stars the only source of light. The two men standing in the middle of the clearing looked as different as night and day; one had black hair, was 6"3 and heavily muscled, carrying an axe in his left hand. The other was about Ash's height, much leaner, wearing a black tunic and cloak, his face covered by a black mask with red slits where the eyes were, his right hand gripping the hilt of a sheathed, single-edged sword. For what seemed like eternity, two of them just stood there, neither of them moving, neither of them saying a word._

_Finally, the bigger man spoke. "You do realize that you have no chance of surviving, let alone winning this battle. I have faced far more dangerous adversaries than you," he said, without arrogance or malice, "Knowing this, do you still wish to face me?"_

_The masked man said nothing, only drawing his sword in reply, the blade pulsing with an unknown, red energy that obscured its true color. The man with the axe sighed in a mixture of disappointment and pity. "So be it; if this is what you want, I will honor it. However, before we begin, there are two things you must know: First, when our battle begins, I will show you no mercy. Second, should you attempt to surrender, the only thing I can promise is a quick death. Are you willing to accept this?"_

_The masked man nodded in understanding, assuming a battle-stance, angling his sword towards his opponent. The big man also raised his axe. "Before we begin, I do have one question; what is your name?"_

_As Ash's eyes began to grow heavy, the masked man said one word, a word that carried so much weight and power that it made his sword look like a toy. "Moloch."_

_Without another word, the two foes charged at each other with inhuman speed, their weapons raised high. The moment their weapons clashed, the scene was enveloped in a dense, black fog. With that, Ash felt his eyes close and he saw no more..._

As Ash opened his eyes again, he awoke to a room bathed in sunlight. Turning his head to the left, he saw an IV needle sticking into his arm, which was wrapped in bandages. Now that he thought about it, it felt like his entire body, save the area above his neck and around his waistline was covered in bandages. Had someone been taking care of him while he was unconscious?

Turning his head to the right, Ash saw a girl, asleep in a chair against the wall. In his humble opinion, and as far as he could remember, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Most of her brown hair was covered by a red bandana, with two natural ponytails extending just past her shoulders. She had smooth, flawless skin, an elegant curve to her figure, and larger-than-average breasts that would've brought any sensible guy running. However, she did have any of this out there like she was flaunting it, so at least she had a sense of modesty.

However, despite the fact that all of this was true, Ash wasn't really concerned with any of these things; it was like he could literally see into her soul. It was like a star shrouded by a dark cloud; she seemed neither innocent nor corrupt, but rather the victim of a horrible, life-changing event. On top of that, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had met her somewhere before...

It was as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. _She's the girl who answered the front door!_ Ash realized. As he rose to a sitting position, he had completely forgotten about the needle in his left arm, and he paid for it. "Ouch! Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth as the sharp pain shot up his arm, mentally kicking himself for this moment of stupidity.

The noise he made caused the girl to stir at first, then awaken. As she opened her eyes, Ash saw that they were blue, lively like sapphires when they catch the light. When she saw Ash looking at her, the only thing he could think to do was stare at his wrinkled bed sheets and mumble "Sorry" as his cheeks burned red from embarrassment.

After stifling a yawn with her hand and stretching a little, the girl said, "Oh, don't worry about it; I'm just glad to see that you finally woke up. I'm sure you must have a lot of questions, so I'll try and answer them as best as I can."

His embarrassment vanishing, Ash decided to cautiously start asking. "Do you know what city this is, or the region for that matter?"

"You're in Petal burg City, in the hoohen region," she replied matter-of-factly, looking slightly confused, "Where did you think you were?"

As hard as he tried, Ash could not dredge up even this unimportant piece of information. "I...don't know, I can't remember," he said with a sigh, "All I can remember is that I was stumbling out in the middle of nowhere for two days before I saw the lights of the city."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "You were out there for two days before you passed out?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ash replied, casually scratching his head, "Speaking of which, how long was I out for?"

"You were in a coma for three days," she replied, "I'm still a little amazed that you lasted that long."

"Wow, that long, huh," Ash said, grinning, "I guess I was just being stubborn. Isn't it true that you can't tell how much time goes by when you're asleep?"

"Something like that," the girl said with a small smile that would've melted a heart made of stone, "At least from what I've heard."

"And I suppose I have you to thank for patching me up?'' Ash asked, motioning to his body with his right arm.

"Oh God, no," the girl exclaimed, feigning shock, "Brock was the one that fixed you up. If I had tried, you'd look worse now than you did when we found you."

"Didn't think that was actually possible," Ash said laughing, "Oh, and that fake shocked look you had going there? You might want to work on that just a _little_ bit more."

The girl laughed at this too. "Well, shit," she exclaimed, "I guess I will. Oh where are my manners? My name's May Maple. And you are?"

_That_ he could tell her. "I'm Ash Ketchum," he replied politely, "It's nice to meet you, May."

"It's nice to meet you too," May said, rising out of the chair and heading towards the door, "I better let Brock know you're awake. Oh, just as a warning, my friends are probably going to ask you a lot of questions, so just be ready for that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ash said with a grin, "Speaking of questions, I do have one more."

May stopped with one foot out the door. "Yeah, what's that?"

"When do you think I'll be able to take these bandages off?" he asked, waving his right arm exaggeratedly, "I feel like a mummy someone didn't finish wrapping."

"Oh, that," May said with a giggle, "Brock will help you with that as soon as he comes up. Oh, I almost forgot, there's a change of clothes at the foot of your bed. See you in a little while."

With that, May left the room, closing the door behind her. As Ash slowly and carefully removed the IV needle in his left arm, he wasn't thinking about all the unasked questions he'd have to answer, or that he would getting his bandages removed; he was thinking about May. He had no doubt that she was a good person; still, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something.

After an hour and a half of questions, May knew that they weren't going to get any real answers out of Ash. It wasn't that he was being uncooperative; in fact, he had been nothing but courteous and patient throughout the whole process. The simple fact of the matter was that Ash's memory was so full of holes, he couldn't help them even if he wanted to.

Even Paul, having Dawn read Ash's mind, came to this conclusion. "Did you find anything?" he asked.

Dawn shook her head. "Nothing," the blue-haired girl replied, "Every time I try looking into his past, it's like there's nothing there at all."

"So, what you're saying is that he's empty-headed," Jimmy joked, receiving a prompt elbow in his ribs from Marina.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Ash said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"At least we've ruled out that you're a spy," Barry reasoned, "Otherwise, this might've gotten messy."

"So, what do we do now?" Marina asked, "It's not like we can keep him here."

"True," Misty agreed, "Still, we can't send him out there by himself; maybe there's another way he could help."

"I don't think it's a matter of him being able to help," Gary replied, "I think it's more of a matter of him not wanting to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it," Gary continued, "Just three days ago, Ash was hanging on by a thread when he stumbled up to our front door. Not only that, but he's just woken up from a coma. On top of all this, what we do isn't exactly risk-free, it's just the opposite; hell, what we're doing is treason. To ask a guy who has no memory of who he is or where he came from to throw in his lot with a bunch of people he's never met before, would to him be asking a lot, maybe even too much, of himself. Looking at it that way I wouldn't want to stick around here for too long, either."

As much as May hated to admit it, Gary had a point. She could feel Ash's emotions pulling him in several different directions. It was probably for the best that they let him go. He didn't really owe them anything, so it was pointless to ask him to possibly lay down his life for a bunch of strangers. At least May could be comforted with the fact that she had done her small part to keep him alive. Not only that, but it gave Ash a chance to put his life back together, or at the very least start over.

"That's not necessarily true," Ash said, rising from the seat he had been sitting in, "I've made up my mind; I'm joining you guys, I want to help you fight."

Ash's statement caught everyone, even Paul, completely off guard. May couldn't believe it; what was he thinking?! He had a chance to go get his memories back, and he was throwing that away! He didn't owe them anything!

Master Lance, who had not spoken the whole time, decided to break the silence. "Why do you want to help us?"

Ash thought about it for a moment. "I was out there by myself, on the verge of dying, living off of berries and river water, hoping that someone would help. If you hadn't found me, I'd have been laying dead on your front porch by morning. I'm not saying I owe you guys anything; I'm just saying that if I helped you guys in whatever way I can, then maybe whatever happened to me will never have to happen to anyone else ever again. Getting my memories back can wait, 'cause I believe this is more important right now."

For a long moment, no one spoke. _ Either he's that selfless, that crazy, that naïve, or a mix of the three_, May wondered; still, she had admire his reasons for wanting to join them.

"Well, if you're dead set on joining up, then I don't see the harm in having an extra pair of hands available," Lance said with a chuckle, "Alright, you're in. We'll start your training as soon as you're ready. I better warn you, though, once we get started, we'll be going at it hard and fast, so you can't afford to fall behind. Time, unfortunately, is a luxury we don't have."

"I'd like to start tomorrow, " Ash replied without hesitation, "I promise I'll keep up."

"Tomorrow it is, then" Lance agreed.

_I take that back_, May thought with an inward groan,_ He's that crazy._


End file.
